William Mompesson

{{short description|English clergyman}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

William Mompesson (1639 – 7 March 1709) was a Church of England priest whose decisive action when his Derbyshire parish, Eyam, became infected with the plague in the 17th century averted more widespread catastrophe.

The earliest reference to him is in Alumni Cantabrigienses; he was baptized at Collingham, West Yorkshire on 28 April 1639,{{cite book|author=David Paul|title=Eyam: Plague Village|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFGoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|date=15 March 2012|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-1262-1|pages=44–}} attended school in Sherburn and went to Peterhouse, Cambridge University, in 1655, graduating BA 1659 and MA 1662.{{acad|id=MMS655W|name=Mompesson, William}} He was ordained in 1660.{{CCEd|type=person|name=Mompesson, William (0 - 1665)|id=54663}} After a period of service as chaplain to Sir George Saville, later (1679) Lord Halifax, he came as Rector to Eyam in 1664, with his wife Catherine (daughter of Ralph Carr, Esq., of Cocken, County Durham).[http://places.wishful-thinking.org.uk/DBY/Eyam/WmMompesson.html Genealogical research]

File:Mompesson's Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1335.jpg]]

In 1665 plague hit England, and a consignment of cloth bound for his village brought with it the infectious fleas that spread the disease. After an initial flurry of deaths in the autumn of that year the plague diminished during the winter only to come back even more virulently in the spring of 1666. Mompesson, in conjunction with another clergyman, the ejected Puritan Thomas Stanley,[https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/derby/article_5.shtml Stained glass commemoration to both men] took the courageous decision to isolate the village.Wood, W. (reprint 2006) The History & Antiquities of Eyam Little Longstone: Country Books/Ashridge Press In all, 260 of the village's inhabitants, including Mompesson's wife Catherine, died before the plague claimed its last victim in December 1666.The Reverend William Mompesson, 1638-1708, Hero of Eyam; and his life in Nottinghamshire - a tribute (1980) Beaumont, R. M., Stapleford: Hill Anthony, {{OCLC|16487511}} Mompesson became associated with the plague and was not universally welcomed at his next parish, Eakring, Nottinghamshire. In 1670 he remarried, his second wife being a widow, Elizabeth Newby. She was a relative of Mompesson's patron, Sir George Saville, and through Saville's patronage Mompesson eventually became Prebendary of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, although he declined the opportunity to be Dean of Lincoln Cathedral. He died in 1709.Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1990) Magnusson, M. (Ed.) Edinburgh: W & R Chambers Ltd. {{ISBN|978-0-550-16041-6}}

This historic episode, commemorated each year in Eyam, has been the subject of many booksClifford, J. Eyam Plague 1665 - 1666 (1995) Cromford, Derbyshire: Scarthin Books, {{ISBN|978-0-907758-73-0}} and plays,[http://nodanw.com/shows_e/eyam.htm Dramatic production] notably The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor (1970). Recently academics have begun to question the key details of the story: for example the extent to which wealthier residents were able to circumvent the ban.A Dreadful Heritage: Interpreting Epidemic Disease at Eyam, 1666-2000. Patrick Wallis, February 2005, London School of Economics (Department of Economic History) For example, despite insisting all villagers should remain in Eyam, Mompesson had his own children sent away to Sheffield in June 1666, just before the quarantine was agreed. At this time he also wanted to send his wife Catherine with them but she refused to leave him, later succumbing to the plague.

Mompesson did many things to help the village during the plague including preventing its spread by filling pockets drilled in the Boundary Stone full of vinegar for trading. This helped stop the spread of the plague by sterilising any coins that came in or out of Eyam. "Mompesson's Well", listed at Grade II by Historic England,{{NHLE |num=1347936 |desc=Mompesson's Well at SK223772 |grade=II |fewer-links= |accessdate=22 May 2021}} is a substantial well on the edge of the village and another site for the exchange of payment for food and other essentials left by neighbouring parishioners.{{cite web |url=https://eyamandthegreatplague.weebly.com/mompessons-well.html |title=Mompesson's Wall |work=Eyam and The Great Plague |access-date=22 May 2021}}